Intel-Quest Business Research / Mystery Shopper scam

I received a plain envelope in the mail with no return address, no post date and merely my address and a Canadian stamp on it. I thought it was a personal letter until I opened it and discovered it was an offer for a mystery shopper job. They included an ENCLOSED check for $4315 telling me to go to Western Union and send one of four people $3720, to pay $200 for an "estimated" fee at Western Union and then go shopping with a remaining $95 at one of many stores including Walmart, JcPenney and Target. The last $300 was supposedly my first payment.

I immediately got online and did a search for this company and found that they had no website and no previous information online except for a couple of address listings. They claimed to be a member of the Better Business Bureau but I can find no information about them on the BBB website. I then looked for mystery shopper scams and found right off that this is a common practice and that the check is indeed counterfeit and will bounce, leaving me to cover the insufficient funds that the bank will later discover.

Comments

I received a plain envelope in the mail with no return address, no post date and merely my address and a Canadian stamp on it. I thought it was a personal letter until I opened it and discovered it was an offer for a mystery shopper job. They included an ENCLOSED check for $4315 telling me to go to Western Union and send one of four people $3720, to pay $200 for an "estimated" fee at Western Union and then go shopping with a remaining $95 at one of many stores including Walmart, JcPenney and Target. The last $300 was supposedly my first payment.

I immediately got online and did a search for this company and found that they had no website and no previous information online except for a couple of address listings. They claimed to be a member of the Better Business Bureau but I can find no information about them on the BBB website. I then looked for mystery shopper scams and found right off that this is a common practice and that the check is indeed counterfeit and will bounce, leaving me to cover the insufficient funds that the bank will later discover.

My name is Frank McAvoy and I am an employee of the company formerly known as Intel-Quest Business Research.

This is a good company owned and operated by my family. We are located in the small town of Lebanon, TN and have 4 employees.
We, like you, are victims of this scam. We are not in the mystery shopper business nor have we any desire to recruit mystery shoppers and would not pursue those ends via these means even if we did.
We DO NOT have an account with Citibank or Chase nor have we ever had an account with these companies.
If you recieve a check in the mail that is supposedly from us, please tear it up and throw it away. IT IS A FAKE. We will NOT guarentee any of these checks nor be held liable should a person choose to cash a fake check.
We are in communication with the authorities on this matter and we hope that the criminals who are responsible will be caught and we may then begin cleaing up the mess they have made of our good name.
Thank you for your understanding and making the right decision in checking the facts before getting financially involved with this scam.
Frank McAvoy

I also received such a check and dialed the person on the letter as the cordinator. Jessica Evans she had a very deep african accent and having heard so much stories of nigerian scammers, I too did some snooping around. What the want you to do is cash the check and wire the money to someone. Then fax them the information so they can go pick it up...During which the check will bounce and you will be left with no money ...a big scam. I am calling the local officals on this...this has got to stop.

I got same said check in the mail and called the so-called coordinator...Jessica Grant...who told me not once but twice(called two times) that the check wasnt a fake and nothing would happen. Only to later go to my bank to see what they had to say and my banker informed me that there were several checks of the same amount on hold and that it was a scam. SO people BE AWARE!!! I almost fell for it.